Spending Review: Comment from Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council

Richard Flinton, Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council, said:

At first sight, the Chancellor’s spending review results in a requirement for North Yorkshire County Council to save an additional £14m in 2015-2016. This is on top of the £92m in savings which the county council will have achieved in the four years ending on 31st March 2015.

If our assumptions about the Government’s strategy beyond 2016 are correct, we estimate that the county council will have to deliver savings of approximately £76m over the period 2015-2019.

What is not yet clear is how the Chancellor’s announcement on funding a further two years freeze in council tax will be applied; the precise impact this announcement will have on the budget will only become apparent when the Government announces the full details.

There is no question that today’s announcements pose considerable challenges for the county council. We have been successful so far in protecting our front line services, and we shall continue to do everything possible to protect them, but it is inevitable that savings of this magnitude will not be achieved without an impact on the services provided by the council.